Biography Tea Portraits

Happy Summer! I hope your first day of summer break is great! I've had a few requests for the digital files of the Biography Tea portraits, so I uploaded them into a Google album. You can access it using this link: https://goo.gl/photos/PpmamFThxSwDchMc9 Enjoy!

Year End Video

What a year we've had! There have been so many wonderful memories, and I captured as many of them as I could in this video I made of pictures from the year. Enjoy!

Summer Suggestions

I can't even believe it's summertime already!  This year has gone by so quickly! I have truly enjoyed working with all of you and your children this year and am amazed at their growth.

Summer is always a time where academics slide a little bit, so I wanted to give you some suggestions on things to do and ways to keep their minds sharp for third grade.  However, as a big fan of summer myself, I am also a big proponent of resting, relaxing, and having fun, so don't overdo it on the summer work.

READING.  Any and all reading is great!  Audio books are a great way to keep up the reading, and having them follow along in the book is a great idea if that's available to you.  The Denver Public Library has free downloads and you can also get books on CD from them.  Audible from Kindle is also a great resource.

Our subscription to Raz Kids will continue throughout the summer and I have adjusted all of their reading levels on the site to reflect their current independent reading level.  Use this website:  https://www.kidsa-z.com/main/Login.  The teacher code is kstratman1.  They then find their name, click on it and then click on the spoon as the 'password'.   There is also a free app you can download to utilize Raz Kids on a mobile device.

MATH FACTS.  A little bit of practice goes a long way with math facts.  There's always the old fashioned flashcards or calling out a fact, but if you'd like to explore some websites, my favorite is Sheppard Software.  I'm a big fan of 'Fruit Splat' and 'Monkey Drive'.  You can also print out the Rocket Math sheets from the downloads section of the 2nd grade webpage.

TYPING.  Our Typing Pal subscription will also continue throughout the summer.  Use this link to get there.  Then click on 'Typing Pal School Login'.  Our school code is gralandc.  The students' usernames are their first name and last name with no spaces and no capital letters (katiestratman) and the password is graland (all lowercase).  If your child would like to use Typing Pal, just make sure to check in with them that they're using home row.

WRITING.  Any kind of writing is beneficial over the summer.  Writing letters to family members, sending postcards from vacation (I love postcards!  My address is 1784 S Sherman St Denver, CO 80210), writing out the grocery list, and keeping a journal are all good ways to make writing seem fun instead of like a chore.

GRALAND WORKBOOK.  The Graland Workbook will be online this year. You can print out any or all of the pages.  You can access that on the resource page of the Graland Website.  An email will go out soon with a link to it as well.

Let me know if you have any questions!  It has been a pleasure working with you all this year!

Katie

It's Biography Tea Time!

We are very excited for The Biography Tea!  Today we talked about appropriate books to use for research.  The picture on top shows books that are not appropriate.  The books on the bottom are mostly appropriate.  The student's book must be a little easier then "just right."  Also, they must be approved by their teacher.  Our Graland library has a lot of books available, however, your public library and bookstore will most likely work as well.  The students have been asked to have a few people in mind.  Please keep the list below in mind if you are helping your child make their selection.

Thank you!

A sign of a "just right" biography book:

*Table of Contents

*Glossary

*Time-line

*Index

*Facts are in order from birth to death.

*Your child can read fluently and retell easily!

Circles and Stars

We have begun our new math unit on multiplication.  To help the students understand equal groups and to become more familiar with the relationship between addition and multiplication, today we learned a new game called Circles and Stars.  You can play this game at home with some paper, a pencil, and a die.  Here are the directions:

Circles and Stars

PURPOSE:  To have the most stars on your page.

WHAT YOU NEED:

         One piece of paper

         One dice

         A pencil

         Your thinking mind

HOW TO PLAY:

1.       Fold your paper in half like a hot dog and like a hamburger.  Open it up and trace on the folds.  You will have 4 equal sections on each side of the paper so you can play a total of 7 rounds.  One box is used to add at the end.

2.       The first person rolls the dice once.  Whatever the number is he or she draws that many circles in the first box.  Make sure your circles are big enough to draw stars in later!

3.       Player two rolls the dice and draws circles on his or her paper as well.

4.       The first person rolls the dice again and that number is the number of stars that will go in EACH circle.  Draw that number of stars in each circle, then write a multiplication problem and repeated addition problem that shows how many stars you have.

5.       Player two does the same thing.

6.       Repeat this until you have filled up 7 of the 8 boxes.  In the 8^th box you will add the number of stars you had in each box to find your total.  The person with the most stars is the winner!

Gratitude Journals

Can you believe it's already November?  The year certainly has flown by so far!  It's always a good idea to slow down every once in a while and think about all the things you are grateful for and November is a great month to do that.  This month, the students will be keeping a Gratitude Journal.  Each day, they will write one thing they're grateful for and why they're grateful for it.  They will also post a picture of that page in their journal on their Digital Portfolios so you can follow their journals daily.

Research has shown the positive effects of gratitude on the brain, and starting the practice of gratitude at a young age is a great way to help students develop healthy habits.  If you'd like more information on the scientific research behind gratitude, take a look at this article.

I hope you enjoy reading your child's Gratitude Journal every day and that it sparks fun and uplifting conversation at home!

Addition War

We learned another game to practice math facts yesterday!  The kids had a great time and you can play at home too!  Here's how to play:

Addition War

Materials:  a deck of number cards

Players: two or more

How to Play:

1.  Place a deck of cards face down in a pile.

2.  Each player picks up two cards and adds those numbers together.

3.  When all players have the sum of the numbers, show your cards. 

4.  The player with the highest sum wins all of the cards.

*If both players have the same sum, each player picks two cards again and the highest sum wins all the cards.

5.  Continue playing until the deck is out.  The person with the most cards wins.